Three British soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan,
while a fourth died in hospital two days after being injured by enemy fire
in a separate attack.

The deaths brought the number of British troops killed in the country since 2001 to 149.

The three bomb victims, from 1st Bn The Rifles, were in an open-top, weapon-mounted Land Rover, known as a Wmik, that was escorting a supply convoy in Helmand province.

The Ministry of Defence said that the soldiers died at the scene of the attack, which took place this morning just east of the town of Gereshk. No other injuries were reported. The Wmik provides considerable firepower and mobility, but is vulnerable to bombs. Military experts believe that 13 servicemen have been killed in the vehicles in Afghanistan.

The fourth casualty was a Royal Marine from 45 Commando. He died in Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, from wounds sustained when he was shot while on a patrol near Sangin, northern Helmand, on Monday.

Commander Paula Rowe, the spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: “Today has been incredibly sad for the whole of Task Force Helmand, and particularly for The Rifles.

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“We will all feel the loss of these brave soldiers, whose role was to build the capacity of the Afghan National Army.” Referring to the death of the Marine, she added: “His loss will be felt deeply by his family, friends and all those who served alongside him. We extend our deepest sympathy, thoughts and prayers to them at this terrible time.”

The next of kin of all the dead men had been informed. The deaths meant that it was the worst day for British forces in Afghanistan since December 12, when bomb blasts also killed four soldiers. Today's casualties were announced as an inquest into the deaths of three paratroopers blown up by a suicide bomber heard that “all the training in the world” could not have saved them. Ptes Nathan Cuthbertson and Charles Murray, both 19, and Pte Daniel Gamble, 22, died while on foot patrol in the Sangin Valley last June.

The inquest at Wiltshire Coroner’s Court in Trowbridge heard that the men, from 2nd Bn The Parachute Regiment, sustained horrific injuries after moving cautiously towards a suspicious local, who activated a bomb strapped to his body.

Recording verdicts of unlawful killing on all three men, the coroner, David Masters, said: “How do you cope with suddenly a suicide bomber appearing and then, within a matter of seconds, a detonation? All the training in the world is not going to avoid that spontaneous circumstance.”

Meanwhile, Royal Marines sources have reported that the Taliban has retaken territory captured by the British because there are enough troops on the ground. “We are just marking time and losing blokes,” said a 38-year-old member of 42 Commando. “We can clear an area of Taliban, put in Afghan police checkpoints, but when we go the Taliban come back and it slowly goes back to what it was before.”

The Ministry of Defence has still to announce whether it will provide extra troops for Afghanistan after the withdrawal of more than 4,000 from Iraq in the spring.